STATE TIMES NEWS
JAMMU: Justice Mohan Lal Manhas of High Court of Jammu & Kashmir and Ladakh has granted bail to Chief Accounts Officer (CAO) of JKTDC, namely Sajjad Ahmed, son of Shams-Ud-Din Bhat, who was allegedly arrested in a trap laid by CBI in Jammu.
Justice Mohan Lal after hearing the counsel for the petitioner represented by Adv Aseem Sawhney, assisted by Adv Tahseena Bukhari and Monika Kohli counsel for CBI, held that while considering an application for grant or refusal of bail in non-bailable offence, concept of ‘personal liberty’ as enshrined in Article- 21 of the Constitution of India is of paramount importance and the general rule is that ‘bail is rule’ and ‘jail an exception’. The fundamental postulate of criminal jurisprudence is that an accused is presumed to be innocent till guilt is proved against him. “Keeping of petitioner/accused in continuous detention would amount to infringement of his fundamental right to life and liberty which would amount to his incarceration and inflicting pre-trial punishment which is against the mandate of criminal jurisprudence, as punishment can only be inflicted after full-fledged trial and after holding the accused guilty. In view of the aforesaid discussion, it is amply clear, that there would be no danger of the course of justice being thwarted if petitioner/accused is granted bail. Therefore, petitioner/accused has carved out a strong case for grant of bail in his favour. The bail application succeeds, and is allowed.” The Court further recorded that Aseem Sawhney, Counsel while advancing the case of petitioner/accused for grant of bail, has strenuously articulated arguments, that as per the allegations against petitioner/accused, on February 8, 2023 the CBI laid a trap and petitioner/accused along with co-accused were caught red- handed while demanding and accepting bribe of Rs. 2.30 lacs from the complainant and both were arrested on February 8m 2023 and thereafter petitioner/accused along with co-accused are lying in judicial custody in District Jail Amphalla Jammu for the last more than 1 and half months and are not required for any further investigation. It is argued, that petitioner/accused has neither accepted any bribe money nor the same has been recovered from him during the alleged trap, petitioner is an innocent person and has not committed any offence, on the contrary, the complainant is trying to arm twist the petitioner with the connivance of certain CBI officers to settle some personal scores which shall be revealed at the stage of cross-examination and defense in the trial, however, by keeping the petitioner under detention for indefinite period will amount to inflicting of pre-trial punishment to him which is against the mandate of criminal jurisprudence which postulates that the presumption of innocence always lies in favour of accused who is presumed to be innocent till guilt is proved against him. To buttress his arguments, counsel has relied upon several decisions of the Supreme Court of India and High Courts. Finally after discussing the case law on the subject the High Court found it a fit case under the circumstances to grant bail to the accused/ petitioner.